Marine steering systems employing remotely actuated rotatable flexible shafts are known. These flexible means are basic elements of power transmission and are designed to transmit power or control from a driving element to an element to be driven, where direct coupling therebetween is impractical.
In known prior art marine steering systems of the class covered by this invention, the driving element is an output shaft of a device which has been appropriately "stepped-up" by suitable gearing mechanism. The stepped-up output is then fed into a rotatable flexible shaft. The driven element is usually a device which is capable of converting rotary motion from the rotatable flexible shaft to linear motion, and may comprise a ball screw cylinder, threaded screw, or the like. The linear motion is transmitted to a convenient output member which operates or controls the rudder or other steering mechanism.
Gear mechanisms used in marine steering systems are not smooth in operation, provide undesirable backlash, and are somewhat noisy, even when made from suitable non-metallic materials.
The present invention satisfies a long felt need. It overcomes each of the aforementioned deficiencies of the prior art by providing a pulley-belt arrangement or system in lieu of the prior art gear mechanism.